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Duration of Antibiotic Therapy in Critically Ill Patients: C-reactive Protein-guided Therapy Versus Best Practice

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Infection Systemic
Interventions
Other: C-reactive protein
Registration Number
NCT02987790
Lead Sponsor
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Brief Summary

The judicious use of antibiotics is one of the main measures to limit the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogen related to excessive antimicrobial use. A recent study demonstrated that C-reactive protein (CRP) was as useful as procalcitonin (PCT) in reducing the time of antibiotic therapy in adult septic patients treated in the ICU setting. Therefore, the present study proposes to compare the time of use of antimicrobials, costs of hospitalization and clinical outcomes of interest among a group of antibiotic therapy guided by serum levels of CRP and a group of therapy based on the best practices of antibiotic therapy (Best Practice).

Detailed Description

All adult patients (aged\> 17 years), hospitalized at the ICU (total of 50 beds) of the Hospital das Clínicas - UFMG, with an assumed or proven infection, will be considered for inclusion. Patients who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be allocated randomly into one of the following groups: 1) PCR group: antibiotic therapy will be discontinued according to serum CRP levels; 2) "Best Practice" group, length of antibiotic therapy based on the most recent guidelines in the medical literature, according to the focus and / or causative micro-organism. PCR assays shall be performed daily on serum obtained from blood collected for routine intensive care examinations up to 2 days after antibiotic withdrawal. In the PCR group, antibiotic suspension will be encouraged when levels of this marker are \<35mg / L (if peak PCR below 100mg / L); or reduce 50% of the highest value (if PCR peak \> 100mg / L), with a limit of seven days, if there is clinical improvement. Primary outcomes will be duration of antibiotic therapy and antibiotic-free live days corrected for 1000 days of hospitalization. Secondary outcomes will be costs, clinical cure rate, therapeutic failure, 28-day mortality, 90-day mortality, in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stay, nosocomial infection rate, recurrence of infection, and isolation of multidrug-resistant bacteria

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
135
Inclusion Criteria
  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • Signed informed consent
  • Assumed or proven infection
  • Patient admitted to the unit participating in the study
Exclusion Criteria
  • Patients with severe immunosuppression, such as severe neutropenia (<500 neut/mm3), transplantation of solid organs or cells hematopoietic, HIV infection with CD4+ < 200/mm3
  • Patients with multiple trauma, burns or surgery grid size in the last 5 days (Except surgery for focus control)
  • Use of antibiotics supposedly or proven to be effective against the infectious process in for more than 48 hours.
  • Patients undergoing palliative care.
  • Patients with death expectancy for the next 24 hours.
  • Patients with bacteremia caused by Staphylococcus aureus or Candida spp
  • Patients with infections that are known to require prolonged antibiotic therapy

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
C-reactive ProteinC-reactive proteinIn this group, the attending physicians will be instructed to follow the decision flowchart based on the CRP values. Antibiotic suspension will be encouraged when levels of this marker are \<35mg/L (if peak PCR below 100mg/L); or reduce 50% of the highest value (if PCR peak \> 100mg/L), with a limit of seven days, if there is clinical improvement. If a given patient has persistently elevated CRP levels (\> 100 mg/l or fall less than 50% relative to the time of inclusion), the investigators will encourage attending physicians to maintain antibiotics and to perform a careful search for persistent infection. In case of doubts, if the patient is well clinically and without signs of active infection, the duration of antibiotic therapy should be the same as suggested for the Best Practice group.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Duration of antibiotic therapy for the first episode of infection1 year

Days of treatment with antibiotics after inclusion

Total antibiotic exposure days per 1,000 days1 year
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Therapeutic failure28 days

Persistence or recurrence of the pathogen originally causing the infection.

Clinical cure rate28 days

Disappearance of clinical signs and symptoms present at inclusion

All cause 90-day mortality90 days
In-hospital mortalityAn average of 28 days
Length of hospital stay28 days
Costs of hospitalizationThrough study completion, an average of 1 year

Considering Brazilian market prices

All cause 28-day mortality28 days
Length of ICU stay28 days
Isolation of multiresistant bacteria28 days
Nosocomial infection rate28 days

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Hospital das Clínicas - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

🇧🇷

Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

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